I was pretty doubtful after first finding it, as it looks dishonest, like a scam of some sort.
To me, it does definitely not inspire confidence with an anonymous publisher. Seems like they don't feel any pride in their work, since they need to hide. Like Masked Magician... or like a Steve Fearson viral project, from the time before he shaped up.

Then I talked with Michael Weber about it - and according to him, it is actually a serious project with ambitions, despite the shoddy appearance and all the warning signals.

So I've taken the risk of signing up for a year. Still feel that it is a gamble, and that I probably will get ripped off - but I have some faith in Weber's opinions, so... who knows? It might be good.

Each installment of Real Secrets brings incredible, innovative, and exciting NEW magic, thinking, and surprises by creators like Gaetan Bloom, Cyril, Michael Weber, Robert Neale, Max Maven, and an ever-growing team of the best minds in magic. Yes you read that right magic from some of the best thinkers in the world by a secret company that will bring you the best every month.

Real Secrets will even include an unpublished Paul Curry effect. Once you become a part of the Real Secrets community, expect lots of exciting surprises. Never throw away anything you get from Real Secrets even a stamp on the envelope might contain a Real Secret.

Membership to the Real Secrets community is available in quarterly installments or with an annual subscription. Act now, because back issues will NOT be available once a Real Secret is gone, it is gone! No exceptions!

As a member, you must agree not to describe, share, or post videos of any of the effects or methods shared in the Real Secrets community. The goal is to protect these secrets for you and all of the other members. Certainly you can discuss whether you like or hate Real Secrets with others around you but you simply have to agree to the rules of the game to be and continue to be a member. If you dont feel comfortable committing to that then Real Secrets is not for you.

As a special thank you; those signing up to be an Exclusive Platinum Member (e.g, who subscribe and pay for a full year in advance), you will get bonuses ONLY available to Platinum Members including an unpublished, closely guarded effect with custom gimmicks by Michael Weber. Real Secrets has well over two years content already completed, manufactured, and ready to share with our community.

[size:11pt]The initial issue will be out in the beginning part of April. We are
confident you will be very happy with your subscription. There is a lot of
great magic, surprises, bonuses, and fun in store.

Just a few reminders:
1) Never throw away anything you get from us - you never know what it might
be and you will discover secrets as you go along through your membership.
2) We'd ask that you honor our request not to do or post videos or
descriptions of the tricks online. We want to protect your secrets and your
investment. You can obviously perform these professionally or just for fun
for friends, family, coworkers, and others. We want you to have material that
not everyone has or knows about. Your investment in Real Secrets is important
to us.
3) Feel free to let others know about Real Secrets. If you are happy with the
magic please let others know in a general sense. If you hate Real Secrets let
us know and we will resolve that.
4) If you ever have problems contact us. We want you to be happy and so it is
vital that we know of any problems so that we can make every attempt to fix
them. Your investment in the community is important to us.
5) If you have ideas, suggestions, or new handlings we'd love to hear about
them and will set up a dedicated e-mail for that. Once we have reviewed the
ideas we will share them with our community if appropriate and with your
permission.
6) Do not give out your membership number and retain it. We will eventually
have a retail outlet of very select products not available elsewhere and you
will only have access to our Real Secrets store using your membership number.

We understand the concern by some of not knowing exactly who Real Secrets is
made up of. We can tell you that it is people you know and trust. People like
Steve Brooks, Michael Weber, Bob Neale, Mathieu Bich, Gaetan Bloom, Tim
Trono, Paul Wilson, Christian Engblom and others have endorsed, recommended,
contributed to, or participated in Real Secrets. Obviously these individuals
would not be involved in any manner if there were concerns of trust. When you
start getting the material and seeing how great Real Secrets is you will see
why Michael Weber strongly recommended and endorsed Real Secrets to thousands
of attendees during both of his lectures at the 2012 Blackpool Magic
Convention and several subsequent lectures throughout the UK. Michael has
several unpublished ideas and routines in Real Secrets.

We look forward to an exciting journey together with some wonderful,
exciting, different, and practical magic you will receive in your mailbox
every month. Thank you once again for joining our community.

That "one-time" actually means "Recurs yearly automatically" doesn't quite read right in my eyes. There's no payment option that allows me to buy just a one-year subscription. The only option is this automatic 160 USD/year from now to eternity. If I forget to go into the actual PayPal site and search for the page where I can cancel the automatic payment, I will pay for next year as well, no matter if I actually want it or not.

Automatic payment should be opt-in, not opt-out.

People likeSteve Brooks, Michael Weber, Bob Neale, Mathieu Bich, Gaetan Bloom, TimTrono, Paul Wilson, Christian Engblom and others have endorsed, recommended,contributed to, or participated in Real Secrets. Obviously these individualswould not be involved in any manner if there were concerns of trust.

Well.. Steve Brooks endorse anyone who pays him, so I'm not sure how much credibility he add compared to the others in this list. ;)

Max Maven wrote:Given that my name has been included in some of the promotion, I will confirm that this is a legitimate enterprise, which I think will make subscribers very happy.

Thanks Max, that's good to know! :)

In general terms, without going into specific details, do you know why do the publisher doesn't want to be associated with the project? Is it just a marketing ploy?
What I'm saying, basically, is that I don't get it.

Sounds exciting. Probably will go platinum so I can get my decoder ring...Or better yet (keeping my fingers crossed) maybe Weber will tip his nail/board/teacups routine. At any rate, having something sent every month with props and a promise to keep things under the radar and subrosa about it is too cool to pass up.

I talked to Tim Trono and Mike Weber about this on the weekend. They seemed genuinely excited about it, and I've signed up for the quarterly option. It will be interesting to see what arrives in April.

Certainly the names attached to the project look impressive (but if Steve Brooks' contribution is a Silver Shifter I may call foul...)

I subscribed to the Platinum service - $144 USD late last night - or early this morning actually.

Why do magicians have the worst and most annoying marketing skills in the world?!

I guess that's what happens when the desire to sell (and sell and sell again!) overcomes the desire to keep one's creations "secret". You try hard to devise ways to put out a product and make as much money as you can, and yet also keep your creation as "secret" as possible.

I'm not one of those people who like to keep things mysterious when I'm trying to sell something. My ads always give a full description of what a book contains, our Genii convention ads show all the performers we've booked so far, etc.

So, the entire marketing of Real Secrets is the opposite of what I do, however it is a valid way of proceeding that sometimes works very well.

I'm just wondering: my number was 105. Does anyone have a higher number"? It's probably not assigning numbers randomly, so my "105" could mean I'm customer 10, or 5, or 15, or 105.

I guess I jumped on the wagon early.... I have a pretty low number, and seeing how high the numbers have gotten here, Seems that a decent amount of people have no issue taking a chance. I like a little feeling of wonder, as I lost alot of it over the years of learning magic. I always felt that was the worst part of being a magician....

I broke down and placed my order (No. 144). And cancelled the automatic renewal, as I do with virually all automatic renewals. It's my birthday present (birthday is in June!). The people involved are too wonderful not to give it a shot.

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a sub to something called "Things of Science." Each month a blue box would arrive with stuff for some sort of experiment. I loved it.

While I'm afraid lots of the Real Secrets stuff will wind up in my ever-expanding magic drawer, I'm an old git and can play if I want to (in between practicing card magic and writing). The only thing I know of that's at all similar are the packages of magic which Karl Fulves sends out to accompany his periodicals, and I love those.